A collection of thoughts, essays, opinion and nonsense from a former morning show host with way too much time on his hands.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Up and Down

Roller coasters aren't my favorite things. When I'm at an amusement park, I'll step aside and watch while the people I'm with go ride the "Tazmanian Terror" or "Inverted Insanity". My mind has been a roller coaster since 12/3. Part of me welcomes the change, and the freedom the change affords. The other part is terrified that my next job will be selling time shares at Tahiti Village.

I've made a lot of contacts through my years here, and they've reached out to me to help. I have to decide whether I still want to do radio or not before I make the next move. When I've gone out of town for "radio things" that welcome stations from around the country, I look with a general disdain on those "personalities" that have worked in Albany, Boise, Baton Rouge, Lincoln, Minot, Santa Rosa, etc. I was proud of the fact that I stayed in one place, one town for 12 years. That got me some strange looks. It was supposed to mean something, too. Guess not.

Anyway, as strange as it sounds, the EASY thing to do would be to leave- to send out tapes across the country, and tap into the radio connections that I've made. The HARD thing to do is to stay put. Bizarre. Back in 1993, I thought nothing of packing everything I own into my Buick Century (there was plenty of room left over) and head west to the warmth. It was just me. Now, with wife and family (yes, it's a dog, but he still gets us up at night), their well being also has to be taken into account more so than mine. Pumpkin will go with me wherever I go, but I'm still a little hesitant to start sending out packages. My situation here dictates that I sit out for a period of six months (five months now), meaning that the next time I could give time and temperature is May 3rd. Will stations here still want me then? Those I've approached have greeted me with alarming indifference. Have I overestimated what my value would be?

On the bright side, the Packers are hosting the NFC Championship on Sunday, so my mood this week is more likely to be high than low.